| 释义 |
indiscretion|ɪndɪˈskrɛʃən|
Forms: 4 indiscrecyone, 5 indyscrecioun, 6 indiscression, -cretione, 6– indiscretion.
[a. F. indiscrétion (12–13th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. late L. indiscrētiōn-em, f. in- (in-3) + discrētiōn-em discretion.]
1. Want of discretion; the fact of being indiscreet; in early use, chiefly, want of discernment or discrimination; in later, want of judgement in speech or action; injudicious, unguarded, or unwary conduct; imprudence.
c1340Hampole Prose Tr. 18 He sall neuer erre by fantasye, ne by indiscrecyone. c1450Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 242 Vengeaunce and wrathe in an hastyvyte, Wyth an unstedefast speryte of indyscrecioun. 1502W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione i. viii. 159 They be theyr indiscression & euyl maners..discomfort and hurte those they wene to helpe & comforte. 1592Daniel Compl. Rosamond Wks. (1717) 39 Happy liv'd I, whilst Parents Eye did guide The Indiscretion of my feeble Ways. 1602Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 8 Our indiscretion sometimes serues vs well, When our deare plots do paule. 1645in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 318 Prince Rupert was absolved and cleared from any disloyalty or treason, in the rendering of Bristol; but not of Indiscretion. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 128 Thus our hopes perished by the indiscretion of one foolish fellow. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 167 ⁋5 Granting what only the indiscretion of her kindness enabled him to withhold. 1825W. Oxberry Dram. Biog. III. 43 When and where the first act of indiscretion (this is the holiday term for vice) occurred, we know not. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvii. IV. 21 In spite of calumny for which their own indiscretion had perhaps furnished some ground.
2. An indiscreet or imprudent act or step. (Sometimes a euphemism for a transgression of social morality: cf. 1825 in 1.) Also, an accidental or (‘calculated indiscretion’) a supposedly accidental revelation of an official secret, etc.
1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 82 It were an equall indiscretion, to estimate a mannes worth, either by their body or apparell. 1718Lady M. W. Montagu Lett. to C'tess [Bristol] (1887) I. 238 They suffer sometimes for their indiscretions in a very severe manner. 1739Cibber Apol. (1756) I. 57 A lady..whose female indiscretions had occasion'd her family to abandon her. 1752[see infancy 2]. 1840Macaulay Ess., Ranke (1854) II. 146 A youth, guilty only of an indiscretion. 1929T. S. Eliot Dante 63 The Vita Nuova is neither a ‘confession’ nor an ‘indiscretion’ in the modern sense. 1930[see calculated ppl. a. 1]. 1931Economist 5 Dec. 1066/1 Socialist ‘indiscretions’..took the form of the publication of certain alleged confidential information as to advances to French banks and foreign Governments from the French Treasury. 1955Bull. Atomic Sci. Mar. 84/2 We have useful men denied the opportunity to contribute to our scientific efforts because of their youthful indiscretions. 1961Spectator 26 May 742/1 He is psychologically indiscretion-prone.
3. Sc. Incivility, want of politeness, rudeness.
1825–80in Jamieson. |